|
|
|
Piece by Piece:
Retired food microbiologist crafts stained-glass artwork
[Article by Debra Moore in the 09/16/2007 Redding Record Searchlight]
It all started because Ray McElwain wanted to make a window for his home. Twenty-six years later, stained glass has become the 60-year-old’s second career.
"In 1981, I took a local adult high school class and learned the basics," McElwain said, recalling that he made a parrot sitting on a perch and some jewelry boxes.
A visit to a stained glass shop in Chino (McElwain lived in Southern California at the time) cemented his commitment to working with stained glass, though his career as a food microbiologist would claim the bulk of his time until he retired.
The Chino shop owners helped him acquire the tools that he would need as well as develop his pattern skills.
"I can draw a little," McElwain confesses, "not enough to be an artist, but enough to do what I want with stained glass."
New computer software that transfers a picture to a pattern aids in the process, McElwain said.
Stained glass begins with a pattern. An image is divided into pieces that will be used as the pattern to cut the glass.
McElwain demonstrated his technique during a recent meeting of the Red Bluff Art Association, using a horse motif.
Horses are a popular subject for McElwain because he and his wife, Cindy, raise them. In fact, McElwain’s workshop is located at the rear of their barn in Corning, past the hay storage.
And because husband and wife are both of Scottish descent, Celtic designs are also favorites. They plan to sell their stained glass at the Scottish games in Woodland and Calaveras this year.
Cindy helps her husband sell his art, but she also helps with foiling. Once the glass pieces have been cut and ground, they are outlined with copper foil in preparation for the soldering process.
McElwain said he prefers to do the foiling while watching football on television because it is the most tedious part of the process and doesn’t claim his full attention.
However, it must be done with care, because handling glass can lead to cuts.
"You learn early on that if you drop a piece of glass, don’t try to catch it," McElwain said. While he has endured many cuts over the years, none has required stitches.
When McElwain circulated a small piece of glass for the art association members to inspect, they handled it gingerly.
And the members watched attentively as he demonstrated the proper way to cut glass using a carbide wheel glass cutter and breaking pliers. The glass is lightly scored to just break the surface tension. Gentle pressure applied with the pliers breaks the glass along the score line.
McElwain encouraged those new to the art to begin with simple pieces so they would enjoy the process and the finished product. To attempt something too detailed could result in frustration.
McElwain laughed when he recalled the first window he made.
"A couple of years later, I took it out because it looked like somebody did it with a blow torch," he said.
He uses a small hand-held solder stick that stays hot while he is working. Both sides of the stained glass must be soldered, so McElwain urges caution in turning the piece over. He explained that the piece is relatively stable when held vertically, but can fall apart when it is horizontal. While a two-foot square piece of plywood is adequate for most work, McElwain has adapted his own workbench to accommodate windows that are several feet long.
Since that first window, McElwain has completed many more for homes, businesses and churches.
"For the first few years, everyone received stained art as gifts," he said.
Now much of McElwain’s time is devoted to making pieces commissioned by customers. He recently completed a window that held the image of a beloved family pet and is working on another of a mare and her foal for a horse owner.
When asked if he feels more pressure when doing commission work, McElwain said, "There’s not more pressure except for the deadline," he said.
His favorite part of any project is seeing the finished product. "The design is fun, but cutting and grinding the glass is fairly routine. The soldering and picking it up is the really fun part," he said.
So is the shopping for glass. "There is glass in every color of the rainbow," McElwain said. He buys much of his glass from wholesalers in the San Francisco Bay area, but also purchases from Stained Glass Junction in Gridley.
McElwain stores his leftover glass by color in his studio.
To see McElwain’s work or to learn more about stained glass, call him at 824-1477 or e-mail pegasus_ glassman@yahoo.com.
Reporter Debra Moore can be reached at 529-5110 or at dmoore@redding.com.
|
|
